A convincing video of a politician discussing an investment opportunity can now be manufactured without that person ever recording a word of it. That is the core problem behind a long-running warning from New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which has documented scammers using artificial intelligence, fake news pages and impersonated public figures to direct people into fraudulent trading platforms.
The warning was first published on 6 August 2024 and has since been updated as the operation evolved. By 2026, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) was still adding new websites, contacts and platforms linked to the same underlying method.
This is not a warning about one broker. It is a warning about a repeatable acquisition system designed to manufacture trust before the victim ever reaches the investment website.
The Scam Begins Before the Trading Platform Appears
One of the most important details in the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) warning is that the investment platform is not necessarily the first thing a victim sees.
The process often begins with a social-media advertisement or content placed through a news aggregator. The advertisement may feature a New Zealand politician, business leader or celebrity and include a supposed quote about an investment opportunity, a financial secret or a dramatic economic development.
According to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), some campaigns have falsely claimed that a politician or business leader endorsed a new investment system. Others have used fabricated stories about disputes between public figures, secret sources of wealth, government dividend payments or supposed threats to pension arrangements.
The objective is not simply to advertise a trading account. It is to create emotional credibility before the financial pitch begins. A familiar public figure attracts attention, while the format of a news story makes the content appear independent.
This is a different credibility mechanism from the one examined in Retrieve Lost Token’s Federal Associate Commission investigation, where an authoritative-sounding institutional name was used to influence perception. In a deepfake campaign, the authority is borrowed from the person being impersonated rather than from the name of the platform itself.
Fake News Pages Are Part of the Investment Funnel
The fake advertisement commonly leads to another layer: a fabricated news article designed to resemble a legitimate New Zealand media website.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says these pages may feature false interviews, invented quotations and fake endorsements describing how a politician, celebrity or business leader supposedly made substantial profits through an investment platform.
The victim may therefore believe they have moved from an advertisement to independent journalism when, in reality, both pages form part of the same acquisition sequence.
This is why checking only the final trading website is not enough. Investors should also preserve the advertisement, the page that linked to it and the domain of any supposed news outlet involved.
Retrieve Lost Token’s TOOLS4SEALS investigation illustrates another reason this matters. When questionable investment websites disappear, rebrand or switch domains, the earlier referral trail can become important evidence showing how the investor was originally drawn into the transaction.
The First Deposit Is Intentionally Small
After clicking through the fake news content, victims are often directed to a registration page and asked to provide contact details. The next stage is more personal.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says the victim is then contacted by someone claiming to be an investment broker or financial adviser. Rather than immediately demanding a large sum, the caller may suggest a relatively modest first deposit of around US$250.
That amount matters psychologically. A small initial transfer can feel like a test rather than a major financial commitment. Once the victim has paid, the relationship can move from advertising into active account management.
Scammers may then provide access to an online trading dashboard showing apparent gains. According to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), those displayed profits can be fictional and manipulated by the people controlling the platform.
The dashboard is therefore not evidence that real investments have been placed in the market. A displayed balance is only useful if the investor can independently verify that underlying assets or funds actually exist and can be withdrawn.
Some Victims Are Shown “Profits” to Build Trust
Earlier versions of this scam documented by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) included an especially effective trust-building tactic: scammers sometimes transferred a small amount of supposed profit back to the victim.
That payment can make the platform appear genuine. Instead of seeing only numbers on a screen, the victim receives actual money into a bank account and may conclude that the investment process has been tested successfully.
The small payout can then be used to justify larger deposits.
This creates an important distinction for investors. Receiving one successful withdrawal does not automatically validate the platform, particularly where that withdrawal is followed by increasing pressure to commit significantly more capital.
The same principle is relevant to older Retrieve Lost Token cases involving withdrawal restrictions, such as BitNest. The central question is not whether a platform can produce one reassuring transaction; it is whether the investor retains genuine control over the full balance when they choose to exit.
The Withdrawal Stage Reveals the Real Objective
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) reports a consistent outcome: when victims attempt to withdraw their money, they are told that additional payments must first be made.
Those payments may be described as fees required to release the investment. Even after the victim pays, the regulator says the funds are not returned.
This is one of the most important points in the entire warning because it exposes the difference between the fictional account balance and the investor’s ability to recover actual funds.
An investor confronted with a new charge should therefore avoid assuming that another payment will unlock an existing balance. Requests described as withdrawal fees, tax, verification charges, AML clearance, insurance, security deposits, or other release costs should be independently verified before additional money is transferred.
Retrieve Lost Token previously highlighted this distinction in the SmartInvestment Solution investigation, where reported withdrawal restrictions and further payment demands became more important than the balances displayed inside the account.
Deepfakes Make the First Layer Harder to Detect
The technology itself has improved the scam’s credibility.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) explains that artificial intelligence can be used to reproduce a person’s face, voice and mannerisms, making it appear that a public figure is saying something they never said.
That means the old advice to simply “look for bad editing” is no longer sufficient. Some deepfakes still contain visual or audio inconsistencies, but others may be convincing enough that verification has to happen outside the video itself.
If a well-known politician, journalist, entrepreneur or celebrity appears to endorse an unfamiliar investment platform, investors should search independently for confirmation from the person’s verified channels, established news organisations and financial regulators.
The FMA has separately identified other deepfake-related investment schemes, including impersonator Facebook pages pushing users toward WhatsApp investment groups. That broader pattern shows how artificial intelligence is being used as a credibility tool across multiple scam structures rather than within one isolated platform.
The Platform Names Keep Changing
Another significant feature of the warning is that the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) continues adding new entities and websites to the same warning.
Examples added during 2026 include Finscorpio at finscorpio.com, LuStock at lustock.com, Fidelvest at fidelvest.com, Vortex Edge AI at tamarcod.today and Global ITC Support at globalitcsupport.net.
These entries matter because they demonstrate why investors should not think of the scam as one brand that can simply be searched once. Names and websites can change while the underlying acquisition method remains substantially similar.
That resembles the broader domain-rotation problem Retrieve Lost Token examined in the LambdaTrade regulatory investigation: domain-level evidence is essential because a trading name alone may not capture the full digital footprint involved.
For victims, preserving exact URLs is therefore critical. If a platform later disappears or is replaced, historical links, emails and screenshots may help establish which website was involved at the time of the transaction.
Remote Access Can Turn an Investment Scam Into an Account-Security Problem
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has also reported that some victims were instructed to install remote-access software such as AnyDesk so the supposed adviser could “assist” with the investment process.
That changes the risk significantly. Once remote-access software is installed, a scammer may be able to see activity on the victim’s device, observe payment processes or interact with sensitive information depending on the permissions granted.
Anyone who installed remote-access software at the request of an investment representative should stop contact, secure the device and review banking, email and cryptocurrency accounts for unauthorised access.
The investment loss and the account-security risk should be treated as separate problems requiring separate evidence.
If You Entered Details or Sent Money
Anyone who interacted with one of these deepfake-led investment campaigns should preserve the entire journey, not only the final payment.
Keep screenshots or links to the original social-media advertisement, the fake news article, the trading-platform website, registration emails, telephone numbers, names used by brokers, WhatsApp or Telegram conversations, remote-access instructions, account dashboards and withdrawal demands.
For bank transfers, preserve the beneficiary name, account details, amount, date and payment reference. For cryptocurrency payments, keep the asset type, amount, destination wallet address, transaction hash and transfer date.
If cryptocurrency was involved, blockchain tracing may help establish subsequent movement of the assets and whether identifiable exchanges or other services appear along the path. That does not guarantee recovery, but it can provide evidence that is not dependent on the scam website remaining online.
Retrieve Lost Token’s Prominent Hold Global investigation also illustrates why the method of approach matters. In that case, the regulator specifically focused on unsolicited investment solicitation. Here, the initial approach is frequently disguised as social media or news content, but the investigative principle is similar: preserve how contact began, not merely where the money ended up.
Why This Warning Matters Beyond One Fake Video
The most important conclusion from the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) warning is that a deepfake is only the first component of a much larger fraud process.
The impersonated politician or celebrity creates trust. The fake news page creates apparent independent validation. The registration form captures the victim’s information. The broker builds a relationship. The small deposit lowers resistance. The manipulated dashboard creates confidence. Larger investments follow. Finally, withdrawal demands create an opportunity to extract still more money.
Understanding that sequence is more useful than focusing only on whether a particular video “looks fake.” By the time the victim reaches the trading dashboard, the deception may already have passed through several layers designed to make the platform appear legitimate.
The safest response to an unexpected celebrity or political investment endorsement is therefore not to judge the video by appearance. Verify the claim independently before clicking, registering or transferring money.
Lost Money Through a Deepfake Investment Scheme?
If you lost cryptocurrency or other funds after being directed to an investment platform through a deepfake advertisement, fake celebrity endorsement or fabricated news article, Retrieve Lost Token can examine the transaction trail, trace digital assets where applicable, preserve supporting evidence and assist with efforts to recover lost funds or assets.
Preserve the advertisement or fake news URL where possible, together with the investment-platform domain, payment records, receiving wallet addresses, transaction hashes, broker communications, and withdrawal demands. These details can help connect the original solicitation with the eventual movement of funds.
No upfront recovery fees. Fees apply only after a successful recovery outcome.
Disclaimer
This investigation is based primarily on warnings and scam-prevention information published by New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA), including its warning concerning fake political endorsements, deepfake content and fraudulent trading platforms. The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has also published related warnings concerning fake celebrity investment promotions. References to platforms and websites listed by the regulator reflect its published warnings and do not constitute a separate criminal conviction by Retrieve Lost Token.